Broncos second-year defensive end Malik Jackson is hoping to do his part to contribute to a special day for Peyton Manning when Denver plays the quarterback's former team Sunday at Indianapolis.

"We all know how Peyton feels about that place, so we're all working hard to support him," Jackson said on the heels of the best game of his career against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jackson hopes to duplicate or improve on that performance when Manning returns to the town he played in for 14 years before joining the Broncos in 2012.

Jackson made seven tackles, three for losses, sacked Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne twice, and had two quarterback hurries and a pass defense on the way to earning his team's defensive game ball.

"We've been seeing Malik play well since training camp," Broncos defensive end Mitch Unrein said. "His hard work has paid off."

Unrein pointed to a series late in the third quarter Sunday when Jackson took over the game with three critical defensive plays on a Jacksonville three-and-out possession with the Broncos leading 28-19.

Jackson made his sacks on Jacksonville's first and third downs of the series that began at the 20-yard line, resulting in 12 yards of losses. On the second down play, Jackson hammered running back Maurice Jones-Drew for a 1-yard loss.

"I do what I can do to help my defense," Jackson said. "We all had to step up big time, because we had some injuries. It fell on everybody's shoulders to do that. I just happened to be the one who was able to make some plays."

Broncos coach John Fox was impressed with Jackson.

"He is a good, young player, and he's developing and getting better each week," Fox said. "He obviously won our game ball, so he did pretty well."

Jackson is so mild-mannered off the field, one wonders how he summoned so much aggression Sunday.

"I like to relax and get my mind off of business for a few hours," Jackson said. "I'm pretty low-key and try to do fun things. I go to movies. I blend in."

A coaching change at Southern California going into his sophomore year caused Jackson to divide his college career between the Trojans and Tennessee.

"When coach (Pete) Carroll left, I just didn't like it anymore at USC," Jackson said. "It worked out pretty well."